Thursday, June 30, 2011

Poems

Wrote 2 pieces this morning at Starbucks... tried to let my unconscious dictate as much as possible:

I.

Cloudy, overcast morning
At the outdoor cafe
Here alone with my latte
My heart returns again to you

Your smile, your taste, your touch
Envelopes me
Deep primordial bliss
A oneness encompassing
The totality of all that "I Am"
The ego, the shadow,
The known quantity
The unknowningness of my Being
Embraced by you
Transformed in love.

II.

The skeptic in me
The part that questions everything
Looking for an answer
Continually seeking
Finds nothing to hold onto
Arrives at zero
With empty head, empty hands
In the stillness of the Now
I am poured out
Christed
Crushed and broken
Sacred elements
"Take, eat; this is my body"
Layed bare for you
And surrendered to your
Overwhelming love.

6/28/11

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Coming back to Ourselves

I have been thinking about the arrow of attention lately after watching the incredible Peter Kingsley materials posted on Youtube and it occured to me last night as I dined with my wife at a birthday party in an upscale restaurant. As the conversations around the table took place I placed my hands on my knees and tried to sit alert keeping back inner-attention on myself as I engaged in being-in-the-moment; also placing my two feet flat on the floor to ground myself during talking helped to "bring me back to myself". At my level of being these are merely "exercises" but I nevertheless get a sense of the power that directed-attention can bring. This morning thinking about all of this it occured to me that this exercise comes more naturally to me because of my formative years in middle-school and high school where I was acutely self-conscious of my appearance and therefor had already been "holding something back" for myself without any formal instruction. These were years of great inner-suffering for me; what a gift then, this thorn in my side, which I had always credited with forming me as an "artist"... the real art, of course, consists in becoming fully human, a task we can never really completely arrive at; each day we begin again where we are. But my life is indeed blessed, and as I near my 49th year, everyday I consider it roses, roses... this bit is the icing on the cake! To be able to see the beauty and suffering underying all life, simulatneously, and to realize that the endings are just as important as the beginnings. And all the while, life flows on "within you, without you."

Jungian

When the great swing has taken an individual into the world of symbolic mysteries, nothing comes of it, nothing can come of it, unless it has been associated with the earth, unless it has happened when that individual was in the body. And so individuation can only take place if you first return to the body, to your earth, only then does it become true. (Jung, as cited in Ashton, 2007, p. 160)

(From Avrom Altman)

Friday, June 17, 2011

Ideas

Making progress and a ton of ideas musical and otherwords; creating a sacred space, creating a working space, creating a vibrant cottage industry/book, integrating this idea of "oneness" with "a path with heart" and maintaining contact with bodily sensation (somatics) and many others. Affirming day with the family yesterday at the pool, affirming talk with Dan on music recording/possibilities. All of a sudden my mind is full of fertility and bright ideas. I am most happy when I'm inspired. Suddenly I find everything is inspiring me. This is good news (or it could be an indication of insanity).

Tonight adult beverages with M and her work-buddies from Saks; this weekend we are hoping to catch "Midnight in Paris", the new Woody Allen movie. Life is good.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Wisdom and Love

Andrew Harvey (@GetTheHope)

6/16/11 2:55 AM

Jesus has given us a path thru which the transcendent powers of love & wisdom r embodied in the core of human life.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Realization

A day derailed by emotion...my inner-spiritual gains seem to always be negated by "real life", criticisms and personal failure. Perhaps I should be less identified. My ability to love is called into question. All efforts seem useless, wasted. Life in these moments becomes heavy, a burden I feel unprepared to respond to.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Sitting in the back garden, listening to birds singing and air-conditioners humming; quiet, still summer afternoon. Feels good to do nothing, go nowhere

Shadow-work

Two relevant tweets from Andrew Harvey resonate this morning:


Andrew Harvey (@GetTheHope)
6/10/11 10:55 AM
The shadow personifies everything that the subject refuses to acknowledge about himself and yet is always thrusting itself upon him. ~ Jung

and;

The descent into the shadow is inescapable and essential to the experience of authentic birth.

January: Pausing and Giving Thanks

Today I pause for a moment to remember to be grateful, and give thanks for my body, my being, my loved ones. Too often I seem to be so busy ...